Container cover



Feb. is, 1969 E BIDW LL 3,428,236

CONTAI NEH COVER Filed July 11, 1966 Sheet of a FIG. 2

INVENTOR R. E. BIDWELL A r ran/vars Feb. 18, 1969 R. E. BIDWELL 3,423,235

CONTAINER COVER Filed July 11, 1966 Sheet 2 of 2 FIG. 3

INVENTOR.

R. E. BIDWELL mv m A 7' TORNE VS United States Patent Oflice 3,428,236 Patented Feb. 18, 1969 3,428,236 CONTAINER COVER Raymond E. Bidwell, Fulton, N.Y., assignor to Phillips Petroleum Company, a corporation of Delaware Filed July 11, 1966, Ser. No. 564,157 US. Cl. 229-43 6 Claims Int. Cl. B65d 51/16 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A container cover comprising spaced apart inner and outer apertured cover members, the inner member curving towards the interior of the container and the outer member curving away from the interior of the container, the juncture of said members defining a peripheral flange Which terminates in a downwardly extending lip, and a downwardly extending cylindrical member connected to the interior side of said lip.

This invention relates to a cover for containers, preferably containers for hot liquids. In one aspect this invention relates to a self-draining paper cover for hot liquids, such as coffee.

Heretofore container covers have been provided which have two spaced apart cover members, both cover members being perforated. However, in these covers the interior cover member has been curved outwardly away from the interior of the container so that any liquid that comes in contact with the upper side of the inner cover member drains to the edge of the cover member and is held there. Also, the outer cover member has been either flat or slightly curved inwardly towards the interior of the container so that at least some liquid that comes in contact with the upper surface of the outer cover member passes through the perforations of that cover member into contact with the inner cover member or even into the interior of the container itself.

By the instant invention there is provided a cover having spaced apart inner and outer cover members but the inner cover member curves downwardly towards the interior of the container and is perforated so that liquid in contact with the upper side of the inner cover member will drain back into the interior of the container itself, and the outer cover member is curved outwardly from the interior of the container so that any liquid that comes in contact with the upper side of this member drains off of the cover itself without an opportunity to pass into the container itself. The perforations in the inner and outer cover members are not in alignment with one another so as to prevent a direct access of the vapor and fluid to the outside.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved container cover. It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improved selfdraining cover for hot liquid containers.

Other aspects, objects, and the several advantages of this invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the description, drawings, and appended claims.

FIGURE 1 shows a cross section of the container according to this invention.

FIGURE 2 shows a top view of the cover of FIG- URE 1.

FIGURE 3 shows a cross section of another container according to this invention.

FIGURE 1 shows outer cover member 1 having perforation 2 in the center uppermost point thereof and inner cover member 3 having a perforation 4 at the central, lowermost point of that member and perforations 4' around the outer periphery of that member. Flange 5 extends around the periphery of the juncture of members 1 and 3 and is connected with side member 6- which extends downwardly around the side of the upper portion of container 7. Flange 5 is connected to 6 in any conventional manner such as by glueing, crimping, heat sealing, and the like.

Thus, vapor passing from the interior of container 7 passes through apertures 4 and 4' into zone 8 and upwardly into contact with the inner (lower) surface of member 1.

Liquid that is condensed in zone '8 drops back to the upper surface of member 3 and drains by gravity back through apertures 4 and/ or 4' into the interior of container 7. That vapor which is not condensed in zone 8 passes out into the atmosphere through aperture 2. Thus, steam passes through aperture 2 and flavor body containing liquid is condensed in zone 8 and returned to the interior of container 7 so that there is no substantial loss of flavor bodies or other essential ingredients from the liquid in container 7. The cover of FIGURE 1 is a self-draining cover with respect to liquid trapped on top of member 3 as well as liquid that comes in contact with the top of member 1, the liquid on member 3 gravitating through apertures 4 and 4' and substantially all of the liquid on the upper side of member 1 gravitating off the outer edge of flange 5. Therefore, the cover of FIGURE 1 prevents contamination of the liquid in container 7 by external liquids and at the same time prevents loss of essential liquids from the interior of container 7.

FIGURE 2 shows aperture 2 in outer cover member 1 arranged over central aperture 4 (not shown) in inner cover member 3. Four apertures 4 are shown arranged radially about the outer periphery of inner cover memher 3.

FIGURE 3 shows a container and cover similar to that shown in FIGURE 1 except that in FIGURE 3 inner cover member 3 has an aperture 9 at about the central, lowermost portion thereof, while outer cover member 1 has a plurality of perforations 10 about the outer periphery of that cover member. Also, the inner and outer cover members of the cover of FIGURE 3 have a coating 11 of a heat resistant plastic, the coating being on the surfaces of the cover and cover members which face the interior of the container.

The cover member of this invention can be made from any conventional cover material including paper, cardboard, fiberboard, plastics, rubber, metal, plastic coated paperboard and the like. Preferred plastics include homopolymers and copolymers of l-olefins having from 2 to 8 carbon atoms per molecule, inclusive, polyamides, acrylic polymers, and the like; preferably polyethylene, polypropylene, mixtures thereof, copolymers thereof, and copolymers of each with other l-olefins such as butene- 1. When the cover member is made from paper, cardboard, metal and the like, it can be protected from the heat of the vapors that contact same by coating at least the inner sides, i.e. the sides facing the interior of the container, of members 1 and 3 with a heat resistant material such as a plastic, e.g. polyethylene, preferably polyethylene having a density of at least about 0.91 gram per cubic centimeter at 25 C.

The covers of this invention can be formed in any conventional manner such as by blow molding if the cover is formed from a thermoplastic or by simply forming each cover mme-ber separately by conventional methods such as die casting or machining and then fixing the cover members to one another and to flange 5 by glueing, stapling, heat sealing, and the like. Flange 5 is then connected to member 6 as discussed hereinabove.

The apertures in members 1 and 3 can be arranged in any desired order so long as the self-draining aspect of the invention is effected. For example, instead of the arrangement of apertures as shown in FIGURE 1, a plurality of apertures can be arranged in a circular fashion and in a central location about but not at the lowermost point of member 3 and a single aperture can be employed in member 1 which is located at the central and uppermost point of that member.

Reasonable variations and modifications are possible within the scope of this disclosure without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.

I claim:

1. A unitary container cover comprising spaced apart inner and outer cover members, the inner cover member curving towards the interior of the container, said inner cover member having at least one perforation therein located so as to allow for gravity drainage of liquid from said cover member back into the interior of the container, the outer cover member curving away from the interior of the container, said outer cover member having at least one perforation therein, the at least one perforation in said outer cover member being out of alignment with the at least one perforation in the inner cover memher, said inner and outer cover members meeting at their periphery and forming a substantially horizontally extending peripheral flange which carries around its outer periphery a downwardly extending lip, a downwardly extending cylindrical member having a substantially smooth inner surface and being connected to the under side of said peripheral flange and to the inner side of said downwardly extending lip, said downwardly extending cylindrical member being sized so that its inner side contacts the outer side of the container, said container covers thereby being adapted to slide substantially vertically downward and without twisting into engagement with the upper edge of the container; said downward movement being automatically checked by abutment of the upper edge of the container with the underside of said perpiheral flange, an upper portion of the outer side of the container thereby being protected from contaminants external to the container by said downwardly extending cylindrical member.

2. The cover according to claim 1 wherein said inner cover member has at least one aperture at about the central, lowermost point thereof and the outer cover member has at least one perforation at at least one of (1) about the outer periphery of that cover member and (2) 'at about the central uppermost point of that cover member.

3. The cover according to claim 1 wherein the inner cover member has a plurality of apertures centrally located but spaced apart from the lowest point of said inner cover member and an aperture at the central lowest point of said inner cover member, and the outer cover member has an aperture located at the central uppermost point of that outer cover member.

4. The cover according to claim 1 wherein the cover is formed from at least one of paper, cardboard, fiberboard, plastic, rubber, and metal.

5. The cover according to claim 1 wherein the cover members are coated with a heat resistant plastic at least on their surfaces which will face the interior of the container.

6. The cover according to claim 1 wherein said cover is formed from at least one of homopolymers and copolymers of ethylene and propylene and copolymers of ethylene or propylene with a l-olefin having from 2 to 8 carbon atoms per molecule, inclusive.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,587,857 6/1926 Reid 220-44 X 3,144,971 8/1964 Wommelsdorf 2293.5 X 3,189,242 6/1965 Orr 229-35 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,111,715 11/1955 France.

793,847 4/1958 Great Britain.

DONALD F. NORTON, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 

